CHALLENGE:

Extremely low income (ELI) working-class wages do not rise with increased rentals and property values. Further, inflation, even in times of relative stability, erodes a family’s living conditions.

(  https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol21num3/ch20.pdf )

( https://homelesslaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet.pdf ) 

​

Insufficient income and lack of affordable housing are the leading causes of homelessness. Homelessness disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities After paying their rent and utilities, 75% of ELI households end up with less than half of their income left to pay for necessities such as food, medicine, transportation, or childcare. The site is located in an area, with $18,190 average income.

 

OUTCOME:

Hope Village is a unique proposition: a collaboration between a non-profit and commercial developer.

It is a privately funded community of thirteen fully-furnished, 400-square-foot, single-family homes with wraparound porches and side yards created for homeownership for working, extremely low-income, people or families who have experienced homelessness. The commercial developer is covering the difference between the actual cost (> $110,000 hard cost) and the sales price  ($25,000) to the future homeowners.

 

The project is privately funded.  The Non-profit has established a program with the University of Maryland to provide advice and guidance for each new homeowner for their first three years in the homes.

​

The AIA Maryland Awards' Jury said this about the project:

​

Transitional housing with a sense of place and community are difficult to achieve.  The typology of Hope Village allows for each home to have its own identity while relying on a common rhythm.  Light-filled, appropriately sized personal spaces are easily maintainable and adaptable to the individual owner.  Simple, yet elegantly a definition of home.

​

The AIA Baltimore Awards' Jury said this about the project:

The jury appreciated the modesty inherent in Hope Village’s small independent units that maximize existing platting. With attention to landscape plantings, Hope Village makes clear that the outdoor experience is as important as the indoor experience. Hope Village is a  fun, sweet, and heartfelt design.